Proper Thank You's

First off, I don't think I ever properly thanked Sam from farmgirlsam for the very pretty and very colorful knitted washcloth she sent last year.  I love it!

And a couple of weeks ago, I received a beautiful handmade card and tatting from Briony of crafty-cats-corner.  She was a part of my pay-it-forward post from December 2012.  I will definitely be framing the card as it is too pretty to use.

 Now today, I received a package from Tanya at Bead and Needle.  I was one of the winners in her giveaway for the Grow Your Blog party hosted by Vicki at 2 Bags Full.

 Inside was a lovely soldered necklace made by talented Tanya with images by Edward S. Curtis and beads of AZ turquoise.

It is such a unique and wonderful piece and I do love jewelry.

Apparently today while I was sitting in my windowless office we had a huge sand storm roll through that lasted for about 30 minutes.  By the time I got home, although still gusty, it had mostly cleared, with blue skies to the east and haze to the west.  We haven't had a dust storm in a while so I guess it was about time.

Thank you again Sam, Briony and Tanya for your wonderful gifts.

Wishing you all a wonderful Wednesday!

Lessons From the Cat

Cats can be cooperative when something feels good,

which, to a cat, is the way everything

is supposed to feel as much of the time as possible.

(Roger Caras) 

Jingles sure knows how to enjoy her time.  After days of haze and drizzle and gray, the sun was out and she was basking in it, soaking it up. In fact, she held that last position for at least a couple of hours. Even after the sun went down, she was still there, enjoying the weather, listening to the birds and just simply being in the moment.

We could all learn something from a cat.

Unfortunately, food needs to be cooked, clothes and dishes need to be washed, things need to be cleaned and organized and tidied at home, work needs to be done ... it's a never ending cycle, one that I can't seem to get a handle on.

On Saturday I did get to spend a lovely couple of hours with one of my very best friends who treated me to a late birthday lunch.  We enjoyed trying out a new restaurant that I discovered via Instagram.  I had quinoa salad with roasted pumpkin and avocado which was really delicious.

Weekends are great!  But it's the weekdays where time is lacking.  Days never are quite long enough for everything I want to do.

My second post is up on The Moksi Homes if you would like to take a look here.  Sadly, just after Maureen started the new website, her father passed away and she had to plan a memorial service long distance, return to Amsterdam and, of course, deal with all that comes along with a death in the family.  She was thrown off course for a while but is slowly trying to get back into the routine of things.  So if you have a chance, please stop by The Moksi Homes and say hello.

I do appreciate each and every one of you who visit and leave comments.  I know time is valuable and the fact that you spend some of it with me is much appreciated.

Have a wonderful day!  

I Love Fridays

   I know it is said we shouldn't live for the weekends, but how I do adore Friday.  Especially one that starts out slow and then fills up in the nicest of ways.

 First a trip to see my husband's new warehouse.  It's nice being the passenger sometimes.

While he drove, I crocheted.

Afterwards a quick snack of chai and chapati from a little hole in the wall.

For lunch we tried a new Italian restaurant called Melenzane'.

 There is outdoor seating but since our temperatures are already climbing up into the 80's during the day, we decided to eat inside where it was nice and cool.

 This was the complimentary bread; a type of focaccia called cecina.

 Sam had spinach soup and fritta calamari while I had pomodore soup and a rocca salad.  Everything was quite tasty.

 The menu and the presentation of the bill were both very unique.

 

 Late afternoon a friend came for coffee so I made a quick batch of chocolate chip bars; he brought different types of apple tarts and strudels.

I always feel like these kind of days just go by way too fast.  Perhaps because I don't really want them to end.  Wishing you a wonderful weekend in your corner of the world.

Blessings,

National Zoological Gardens

With last Thursday being an official holiday in Sri Lanka, we had the whole day to spend with our friends and their children. 

I love animals but often wonder why we feel the need to cage them, put them on display and stare at them. Despite that (and the humidity) we had a very nice time wandering the grounds of the Zoological Gardens of Colombo.

 

Our friends were under the impression that their zoo would not compare to anything we have here in Kuwait. How wrong they are!   The zoo here is small and a very sad place to be.  I had to take field trips there with my kindergarten classes years ago and vowed never to go again.

 Do they look sad?  Or is it just me feeling sad for them?

 

 

  Everyone was mesmerized by this guy and he was cool as a cucumber.  I'm sure he was thinking "what the heck are all these people staring at?"

 

A map led us down winding paths through 60 exhibits and beautiful grounds.

 

 

 The sweetest thing was seeing a little boy who was doing his schoolwork as he went to each exhibit.  Drawing the animals and writing about them.

 

 At the end we had a nice little picnic lunch provided by Rizwana.  She made spicy potato sandwiches just for me.

A nice couple of hours with friends enjoying nature truly is a wonderful thing.
Have a great day!

Splendid Sri Lanka

 Fresh fruit for breakfast.

Crows for company.

Soaring eagles.

Lots of walks with lots to see.

Fabulous flora.

Tuk tuks in every direction.

School children on field trips.

Flags and kites flying.

Gorgeous sunsets.

 

 

  

  

All of this and my birthday, too.

 We had a fabulous trip but now we are back.

Back to the regular routine.

And a brand new month.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Have a wonderful week!